Sunday, October 30, 2011

Now, according to a piece in the NY Daily News, the three daughters of former Utah governor and Republican presidential candidate, Jon Huntsman, have come up with their own video spoofing the Herman Cain ad.

The same article points out;

"While the Huntsman daughters have more than 6,300 followers on Twitter, it remains to be seen if their humor can boost their father's ratings. A CNN/ORC poll released this month shows Huntsman coming in dead last among the other seven candidates, garnering just 1% support."

Frankly, I don't know a heck of a lot about Huntsman. I went to his website and took a lot at his section on the issues. There, he gives his thoughts on "Jobs & the Economy" and "Foreign Policy". Important issues, of course but the issue of abortion is conspicuous by it's absence on Huntsman's website.

Searching Jon Huntsman abortion on Google, I came across an interesting article The Salt Lake Tribune that says Huntsman (on record as an abortion foe) "sheds moderate label on abortion" by favoring amending the U.S. Constitution to overturn the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade and outlaw abortion.

That's a plus for me. The fact that Karrie Galloway, executive director of Planned Parenthood of Utah is disappointed in Huntsman doesn't hurt him either, in my view.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

It was announced today that the company I work for will be closing down the location where I've worked for nearly 17 years. The plant's last day of operation will be Dec.27.......60 days from today.

There's always the possibility that I could be transferred to another location.....should an opening arise; but, even with 16 years seniority, there's still a few ahead of me and jobs won't be created out of thin air. It would be a matter of someone at another location quitting or getting fired. Not likely.

In this economy, I'm expecting to be collecting unemployment compensation for some time to come.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

The month of October is nearly over and I haven't written anything regarding the Rosary. To make up for the slight, I've decide to make available links to St. Louis De Montfort's "THE SECRET OF THE ROSARY FOR RENEWAL AND SALVATION" in both pdf and mobi for Kindle formats.

As we can see on the right, this post is the most popular one on the blog........what you can't see is that, as of this writing, it's been viewed over 7,000 times, yet, not one of this 7000 visitors took one second to click on a Google ad.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

I had been forewarned, so I knew what to expect. Actually, I'm one of the few who pays attention during our little ten minute meeting before 7 o'clock at work.

Last week, our supervisor told us that the corporate office was a big supporter of the Susan G. Komen organization and she'd be providing pink ribbons for everyone to wear today. When she attempted to give one to me, I said, "No thank you". Of course, she wanted to know why I'd refuse to support such a "worthy cause".

Anyone who is seriously involved with the Pro-life movement already knows the answer; for those who are unaware of the connection between Susan G. Komen and Planned Parenthood, I've post twolinks.

According to this article at lifenews.com , "Komen’s ties to Planned Parenthood are well documented and figures from STOPP International show Komen chapters giving $711,485 from April 1, 2005 to March 31, 2006 to Planned Parenthood affiliates."

I explained to my supervisor that I could not support the Susan G. Komen organization because of it's ties with Planned Parenthood......she said that she didn't agree with the "political agenda" of Susan G. Komen either, but this was about breast cancer awareness. I stood my ground and refused to wear the pink ribbon.

The more I thought about "breast cancer awareness" the more I realized the absurdity of the idea of wearing a pink ribbon while being opposed to Komen. Let's suppose the company supported a program like, say, "AIDS awareness" or even "influenza awareness" we could discuss how AIDS could be prevented by not doing A,B,C, or D. Some folks need to learn about how influenza is not just a severe cold, but a dangerous disease that caused serious epidemics before flu vaccines where developed. With "breast cancer awareness", there is little the average Joe or Josephine can do....other than donate money. So, who's going to get the money? These pink ribbon folks want you to give it to Susan G. Komen which will, in turn, give a portion of your money to the largest abortion provider on the planet.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

I recently joined the pro-life committee at our parish; I attended my first "Life Chain" this past Oct 2nd and attended my first committee meeting last night.

I'm not going to attempt to relate everything we discussed at this meeting. However, I want to write about one particular discussion which took me completely by surprise. The idea came to me, shortly after the "Life Chain" demonstration, that as eventful as our demonstration was, it would have been truly remarkable had pro-life groups from other churches in our fair city participated as well.

I learned that my idea was not new; the pro-life committee had tried to bring other churches on board only to discover that, sadly none of the Protestant church in this area have pro-life committees/ministries nor were any interested in furthering the pro-life agenda.

It would appear that the abortion issue is too hot for these Protestants to handle.

Thinking about this, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the more liberal denominations would shy away from the subject of abortion, but it does surprise me that the more conservative denominations (Baptist - Church of God for example) aren't as actively pro-life as the Catholic church.

Of course, there's always the possibility that they're simply being anti-Catholic, but I don't think that's it. For one thing, all these churches (ours included) come together and actively support the Community Soup Kitchen. No,the truth is, the Protestant churches in our area don't "do" pro-life.

Monday, October 10, 2011

In a recent Vortex, host Michael Voris made mention of Pope Leo XIII's encyclical on Christians as Citizens, Sapientiae Christianae.

Though written in 1890, the encyclical is relevant today. From the first paragraph:

"From day to day it becomes more and more evident how needful it is that the principles of Christian wisdom should ever be borne in mind, and that the life, the morals, and the institutions of nations should be wholly conformed to them. For, when these principles have been disregarded, evils so vast have accrued that no right-minded man can face the trials of the time being without grave anxiety or consider the future without alarm. Progress, not inconsiderable indeed, has been made towards securing the well-being of the body and of material things, but the material world, with the possession of wealth, power, and resources, although it may well procure comforts and increase the enjoyment of life, is incapable of satisfying our soul created for higher and more glorious things. To contemplate God, and to tend to Him, is the supreme law of the life of man. For we were created in the divine image and likeness, and are impelled, by our very nature, to the enjoyment of our Creator. But not by bodily motion or effort do we make advance toward God, but through acts of the soul, that is, through knowledge and love. For, indeed, God is the first and supreme truth, and the mind alone feeds on truth. God is perfect holiness and the sovereign good, to which only the will can desire and attain, when virtue is its guide."

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Yesterday, Oct.2 was Respect Life Sunday. Members from our parish participated in the "Life Chain" demonstration. You can't tell from this photo (taken from the Rome News-Tribune website) but I'd estimate that there were about 75 people there.

The newspaper has this:

"Dylan Bryant (from left), Mary Kate Bagwell and Ellen Tomlin hold signs on Broad Street as part of the National Life Chain. The annual event takes place across the country on the first Sunday in October in more than 1,500 cities. Participants stood on the sidewalk silently in prayer holding anti-abortion signs. 'We are celebrating life,' said participant Charles Betz. 'We’re celebrating all aspects of life and praying for those whose lives were lost. We’re hoping the culture of life will overcome the culture of death.'Several people took part in the event with participants lining the intersection of Turner McCall Boulevard and Broad Street."

We met at the parish hall at 2:30 Sunday, before walking down to the intersection. Those of us participating were advised ahead of time that there might be some harassment and we should not confront anyone who might not appreciate our being so visible.

During the "silent prayer" one woman passerby who was stopped for a traffic light began yelling at me......nothing horrible....she simply rolled down the car window and began yelling "Hey Man" at me several times. I ignored her, yet she continued to yell at me until the light changed.

About 3:30, a young man began walking among the group, trying to draw someone out, but none of us would speak to him. At one point, he stood very close to one of the teen aged girls, trying to intimidate her, I suppose. He didn't succeed, He finally gave up and walked away.

About 15 minutes before our scheduled hour was up, a middle aged woman started doing the same as the young man had done earlier. However, she would really get in peoples' faces. She had information on how to prevent unwanted pregnancies, if any of us were interested. I'm sure it was information on condoms and /or birth control pills. No one had much to say to her either. She followed us back to the church, but stopped to talked to the policeman parked outside.

So, all in all, the harassment was minimal. No one was arrested or beat up. I'm pretty certain that the anti-abortion folks went away happier than the "pro-choice" folks did.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

It was obvious from Eddie's final email, that he had discovered my blog. In his email, he made references to Fred and Lamont Sanford........I hadn't used those two against Eddie, though I mentioned the pair in Part 1.

Stats from Google Analytics show that the Nigerians first came upon my blog on Sept.25. They had been reading and rereading the story of Misty's accident since Sept. 20.

Once they had discovered the blog, there was no point in continuing the masquerade.

It was inevitable that, sooner of later, the scammer would have realized he was being made a fool of. It's unclear how far along the story would have gone if I had waited until it played out before posting the story online. The blog can be accessed via the phony news site containing the story of the Misty being run over by a police car chasing a Krispy Kreme donut truck.

Did the guy sending the emails discover it on his own? Probably not. The fact that he believed the news report to be true shows that this particular scammer isn't too intelligent. I suspect that someone he knows came upon the blog and let him in on the reverse scam.

Google Analytics show that visitors from Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt continue to visit both this blog and the website hosting Misty's accident story. Why?It could be that the Nigerian Scammer's School is using the experience with me as a lesson in what to avoid. There is also the possibility that scammers are going to the sites to get a good laugh on their doofussonian compatriot.

What have I learned from this?

I'll probably have to retire Wanda Tuinphro, Lucy Ricardo, Misty Meaner, Fred and Lamont Sanford. That doesn't mean that I'll never respond to another obviously phony email. I created Wanda et al, and I can create more. I'm a virtual Victor Frankenstein in that regard.

I've also learned that, no matter how tempting it may be to do otherwise, I should wait until the final email before posting the story. Who knows where the events between Lucy and the "Reverend Eddie Shields" would have lead had they continued on their natural course.

Other than the Nigerians and a fan in Toronto, the Eddie Shields saga hasn't been popular with my regular visitors. It's possible that this story may be like the Kelvin Williams adventure and continue to attract visitors well into the future.

From the look of things, I'll be a hit with the Nigerians for quite some time.

Hello Wanda,I got your mail, and that is a very nice write up, I have sent her the mail, but the problem now is that she might want to send the payment in Nigeria, and that would be a problem, though I have a friend there that works in Nigeria, he may be able to help pick up the funds and send them down, Or what if she decides to speak with me on phone? How do you think we could go about this ? I also sent my passport Id as a prove of who I am. Get back to me, and update me, I would also let you nkow as soon as I hear back from her.

First, I realize it is necessary that I should introduce myself. My name is Reverend Eddie Shields.

I am writing to give my deepest sympathy because of the recent passing of your dearest niece - and my good friend - Misty. I know that she is resting in God's arms, yet still I cried when I first learned that she had died due to the terrible accident.

I first met Misty in 2009 when she was in Denver Colorado ( the home base of my church ). We have communicated very often by email and phone since our first meeting. She spoke very highly of you and I know your were a great influence on her.

I am currently doing missionary work in Nigeria. I am struggling to build a new church in the city of Abuja. When Misty learned of my work here, she promised to donate $4000 to help me in my work here.

I know this is a difficult time for you, but I am hoping you can see to help fulfill Misty's wish. I am prepared to set aside a portion of the church building as a memorial for the dear girl.I wish that I was in Nashville now so that I could attend her funeral, but God has willed that I be here ....... doing His work.Again, please accept my condolences. I hope to hear from you soon, I have attach my Id in this mail.

My dear brother in Christ,Thank you so much for your recent email. Your words mean more to me than you can ever know. For many years, my niece Misty lead a sinful life. I am happy to know that she had a friendship with a man of God.

I wish that you could be here Monday for the poor girl's funeral service, but I know your missionary work in Nigeria is extremely important. I have been to that country on missionary work many times. The people there are in desperate need for God's word. I know for a fact that almost all children born of Nigerian women have fathers from Chad, Benin or Cameroon. As I am sure you know, the Nigerian men are overwhelmingly homosexual. The Nigerian male would rather have sexual relations with a goat than a woman. While it's true that the Nigeria women are the ugliest women in Africa, it is a sin for the men there to prefer other men or animals over their wives.

I will be happy to send the money you need to complete your church. Let me know how much you need and where I can send it.

Again, thank you for your kind words concerning Misty. I'd like to believe that she is resting in God's arms.

Yes she said she was going to help me, But my problem now is where she would be sending this to because we need to close this deal by Tuesday lattest. Please do you know any Fred and Lamont Sanford ?? I would keep you posted

Dear Eddie,I have had very little sleep. I do not know what to do. I have no income. It was Misty's money that we lived on.

Because Tennessee does not recognize our marriage, I cannot get access to the money in Misty's account. I am totally without funds. I desperately need the $40million. I cannot raise any money to pay the government.....you and I will lose this money.

I know the money can be gotten from Misty's aunt Lucy, but she will not give it to me. You can get the $4000 from her if you follow my plan. I could help you with any vital information you might have to give Lucy.

Ok Wanda, I agree to your plans, But now talking about Misty's aunt, is she single? and if you think she would help us out, I need you to give me an exact write up that I would send to her. I would also need to open a new e-mail address as a Rev, so please, Just send me an exact write up that i would send to Misty's aunt, also give me her house address, and maybe a phone number too.Will be waiting for your responseCapt.Shields

My Dear Mrs. Ricardo,First, I realize it is necessary that I should introduce myself. My name is Reverend Eddie Shields.

I am writing to give my deepest sympathy because of the recent passing of your dearest niece - and my good friend - Misty. I know that she is resting in God's arms, yet still I cried when I first learned that she had died due to the terrible accident.

I first met Misty in 2009 when she was in Denver Colorado ( the home base of my church ). We have communicated very often by email and phone since our first meeting. She spoke very highly of you and I know your were a great influence on her.

I am currently doing missionary work in Nigeria. I am struggling to build a new church in the city of Abuja. When Misty learned of my work here, she promised to donate $4000 to help me in my work here.

I know this is a difficult time for you, but I am hoping you can see to help fulfill Misty's wish. I am prepared to set aside a portion of the church building as a memorial for the dear girl.I wish that I was in Nashville now so that I could attend her funeral, but God has willed that I be here ....... doing His work.